Trance Dance Experience™

Entering Your Body/Mind Consciousness

" Imagine darkness so intense and so complete covering you like a velvet blanket...

... a blackness that cuts you off from the everyday world, forcing you to draw deep into yourself,a blackness that makes you see with your heart instead of your eyes. You can't see, but your eyes seem open. You are isolated, but you know you are united with all living things. And out of this darkness comes the roaring of the drums, the sound of the prayers. And among these sounds your ears catch the voices of the spirits, ghostlike, whispering to you from unseen lips. You feel the wings of birds brushing your face; feel the light touch of a feather on your skin. And always you hear the throbbing drums filling the empty space inside yourself, making you forget things that clutter your mind, making your body sway to their rhythm. "

Trance Danceis a unique blend of body movement, healing sounds, dynamic percussive rhythms, transformational breathing techniques and the innovative use of a blindfold or bandana - together stimulating a 'trance' state that promotes spiritual awakenings, mental clarity, physical stamina and emotional well-being.

Driven by unique musical soundtracks recorded specifically for this method of healing, Trance Dance takes participants on an 'inner journey' not limited to our normal perceptions of space/time. Ritual trance journeys have been a vital part of shamanic and eastern dance cultures for thousands of years. Our contemporary approach to Trance Dance brings together the richness of these ancient rituals with some startlingly effective modern techniques.

Trance Dance's primary focus is on healing and spiritual evolution. By dancing within the seclusion of darkness participants discover parallel realities where solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems are possible. Through Trance Dance we disappear, becoming more like spirit, and simultaneously less attached to life's ordinary difficulties, making it possible at these moments to let these problems go.

Shamanism: A worldview within which mediation between physical and spirit dimensions become possible through ecstatic states of consciousnes.

From the beginnings of recorded history we find evidence of dance. It seems that our original relationship to dancing was for the purpose of worship and healing. Animistic cultures viewed nature and all of its elements as an expression of Spirit. To duplicate or mimic nature through movement and sound was a powerful and effective way to connect with spirit. This was the origin of dance.

Spiritual dancing is a cross-cultural phenomenon, a testament to its power and authenticity. Cultures from every continent on this planet simultaneously embraced unique dance forms based on the animals and elements of nature present within their domain. Their purpose in dancing was to enter the consciousness or become the spirit of the sun, moon, and various animal and plant life. Through these dance rituals they believed that the spirits within nature could empower them with abilities such as courage and compassion, as well as reveal insights into the future.

For thousands of years spiritual dancing remained an integral part of how we maintained and enhanced our relationship to the earth. To `dance like nature' was to vibrate at the same rate as the creator, much the same as any newborn child will mimic its environment out of love and appreciation for its existence. Dance was synonymous with what we would call prayer, a demonstration of reverence, and to dance regularly promoted spiritual and physical health and vitality.

" To The Spirit belongs the Dancer "

In addition, dance was a doorway to the soul or `spirit within', and to dance oneself into a state of trance was to connect completely to the healing powers of spirit. It is from these `shamanic' perspectives that we approach The Trance Dance Experience.

Body movement is, simply, a form of non-verbal language. It is an expression of intelligence absent of words. Intentional body movements (dance) is non-verbal language that expresses a reality we already know. Conversely, intuitive (unintentional) movement is a more compelling dance form driven by unseen forces and is not controlled by our individual, deliberate will.

Intuitive dance is expression absent of comprehension. It is a profound act of creation. Intuitive movement is creating new forms of language. However, intuition is not an absolute, it has degrees.Some individuals are more intuitive than others. The question now becomes “how do I cultivate my intuition enough to enter into these spiritual worlds”? The answer is simple…you must be willing to separate yourself from every organic sense you use to relate, from every external memory you possess, from what we call 'reality'. This means letting go of anything you see, hear and feel. Doing this allows you to enter spaces inside of yourself that you know NOTHING about. This is trance.

'If you want to cultivate an authentic spiritual life choose the doors marked “I don’t know”. Another word for ‘I don’t know’ is ' mystery.'

The Trance Dance Experience is a doorway into this non-linear world of mystery. This world is less like a place and rather more like an expanded relationship to time. To achieve entry into this non-linear world The Trance Dance Experience employs various techniques, one being rhythm. Sometimes this rhythm is as simple and gentle as your own heartbeat. Other times these rhythms involve a complexity and force that is so overwhelming it defies our mental ability to comprehend. We are left with no alternative but to retreat to a location within ourselves that is timeless… actually a non-location (non-local) that follows no known physical rules. In this place we perceive and sense in a much clearer way. Because time becomes irrelevant we achieve the ability to travel into both the past and future. In these moments what we experience is beyond human understanding. No comprehension is necessary because to attempt comprehension profoundly distorts the message. We achieve a unique relationship to our spirit in a higher form... manifested in a way that can only be appreciated by the dancer him/herself.

Coming To Our Senses

“Like all vibrant elements of nature human beings grow in the light and TRANSFORM IN THE DARK”.

Humans possess five (5) dominant perceptions or senses: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and tactile. Typically it is this first sense... the sense of visual perception, that dominates and overwhelms the other four. The only exception to this rule are non-sighted (blind) individuals who report a more profound awakening in their other four perceptions. In fact blindness seems to cultivate a 'sixth' heightened or perceptual sense called intuition which dramatically expands their ability to detect authenticity and truth. TranceDance seeks to accomplish this same expansion of clarity by using this simple tool to temporarily create a profound condition of absolute darkness. From a shamanic perspective this darkness is the shadow. Metaphorically the shadow represents all aspects of our unrealized self. To live the shamanic way is to take on as the primary purpose the reawakening of our shadow self... or the evolution of the soul.

'By dancing within the seclusion of darkness we discover parallel realities where solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems are possible.'

Another technique of The Trance Dance Experience is the use of a blindfold over the eyes. In more ancient times `trance dance rituals' were done primarily at night because darkness was a necessary context for participants to focus on their inner experience or `visions'. Darkness creates a state of suspension or `stopping time', an altered state or `trance state' where there is no one but one's self. It is within this inner journey that we connect with spirit and the truth it reveals. The bandana becomes a spiritual tool allowing each participant to block out all distraction and to become a witness to the richness of his or her own experience.

From a scientific perspective the human eye(s) are the only sensory organs we possess that grow directly out of the brain. Mechanically the eyes are ‘hot-wired’ to the brain. It is impossible to fully utilize our other senses when in the presence of such an overwhelming visual force. It is only when we suspend our ability to see that we can truly ‘see’. If all of our human senses worked as powerfully as our visual sense we would eventually achieve clairvoyance. Understand this perspective changes our perceptions of an old saying ‘blinded by the light.’ We become spiritually crippled when we rely so completely on one sensory faculty that can show us only images of our past. If we are to evolve we must explore the depths of ourselves without such a powerful force as a distraction, at least temporarily.